1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disposable coffee brewing unit, containing all the necessary apparatus for the making of a freshly brewed individual serving of coffee.
2. Description of the Related Art
A common method of brewing coffee are by way of percolation and of drip. Restaurants and coffee shops commonly serve their customers with ready made coffee that have been brewed in coffee pots or in coffee brewing machines. A problem with this method is that the coffee that have been brewed in large amounts are not all served right away. A significant amount of coffee that have been brewed in large amounts are usually served at least half an hour after brewing. It is well known that coffee begins to deteriorate at least 20 minutes after it has been brewed. Brewed coffee that sits for more than 20 minutes should be considered stale. One way to solve this problem is to keep brewing a new batch of coffee every 20 minutes, but this could get very tiresome, wasteful, and costly.
There have been several other approaches used to try and solve the problem of staleness. One method used by The Procter & Gamble Co. is by packaging the coffee grinds inside tea bags called Coffee Singles. The idea is to brew coffee individually through single servings of a predetermined amount of coffee grinds in tea bags. Another method used by the Van Houtte Gourmet Coffee Co. is with the use of a machine that dispenses individual servings of brewed coffee. The idea here is to brew and serve coffee in the freshest way possible which is individual servings brewed only at the time a customer makes an order. If at all possible, it is even better if the coffee is brewed right in front of the customer so that there is no doubt as to the freshness of the beverage. It is no secret that coffee roasters know that freshness sells.
There are also other ideas, or inventions, that have been created to try and solve the problem of staleness in brewed coffee. Most of them are geared towards individual servings of brewed coffee. Inventions such as:
U.S. Pat. No. 1,499,281 (Altieri) titled "Individual Beverage Percolator". The invention is a device for producing beverages, particularly coffee, by percolation. The device is placed on top of a beverage container. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,899,310 (Dale) titled "Beverage Charge Holder". The invention is a beverage brewing device that is placed on top of a beverage container and is disposable. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,582 (O'Connell) titled "Art of Brewing Individual Servings of Coffee in a Cup". The invention is a drip coffee maker for brewing individual servings of coffee. PA1 U.S. Pat No. 4,520,716 (Hayes) titled "Drip-type Coffee Making Apparatus". The invention, which is very similar to the invention mentioned above (O.degree. Connel), is also for individual servings of brewed coffee. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,033 (Melton) fitled "Lid for Beverage Container". The invention is described as an infuser unit for making beverages in an associated container. The device functions both as a lid and an infuser unit It is primarily used for the individual brewing of loose tea, but it can also be used for the individual brewing of coffee.